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6.30.2008

Hello Mr. Goody. You misnamed your store.

We have the most interesting and entertaining conversations in the car.
Here's an installment from today:

Me: There's the Goody's, but I sure thought there was a Ross over there too.

Little Dude: Can we go to Goody's?

Me: Why do you want to go to Goody's?

Little Dude: Because I need some goodies.

Me: Really? What kind of goodies do you think Goody's sells?

Little Dude: Umm. Idunno.

Me: Goody's is kinda like Khols. They sell clothing and shoes and bags and stuff.

Little Dude: They don't sell goodies?

Me: Umm, well not really.

Little Dude: Well, why is it named Goody's?

Me: I think maybe becasue it was started by a man named Mr. Goody. I'm not really sure tho.

Little Dude: I wonder if we could meet Mr. Goody?

Me: I don't know.

Little Dude: He should have named it 'Clothes and Shoes-s'. Since he doesn't sell any goodies.
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I tried to keep the laughing to a minimum.
I really did.
It wasn't easy.
:)

We never did find the Ross store we were looking for. I was hoping they would have some "goodies" for the wedding. LOL.

Stopped by the produce stand on our way home...picked up an out-of-this-world watermelon, a bucket of tomatoes, a bucket of okra and a bucket of peaches. I am introducing my children to stewed okra and tomatoes tonight...can you say "Mississippi Soul Food"? My arteries are clogging up as we speak.

Just after college, I worked at Kroger, in the floral shoppe. (You should probably know that Kroger's flower shoppes in Mississippi are a big deal. Way bigger than they are here in Tennessee. I was surprised to learn that when we first moved here 9 years ago. My local Kroger flower shop has one part time person...my flower shop in Mississippi had a staff of 4 full-time people and was responsible for a full 25% of the store's sales. Not that this really has anything to do with the story.)

Next door to the Kroger was a tiny "meat-n-3" eatery that had been there for 40 years. It was quite a ledgendary local place! The lady who owned it was a traditional southern black lady (named moma bee) who started working there when it first opened although I'm sure she wasn't a cook when it opened. When I became a regular there, she was the owner and head cook, and might I say that she was ancient and sassy and all about good southern food. When she hugged you, you saw your life pass infront of your eyes. :) One of her special dishes was stewed tomatoes and okra--made on Wednesday mornings and sold out by Wednesday night. My mouth waters just thinking about it. A quart could be had for $1.29 and came with 2 sliced of cornbread. And let me tell you, I had many a quart. Oh. my. goodness. It was positively healing.

Anyway, while I am perfectly inept at measuring up to Moma Bee's stewed tomatoes and okra...what I can do is manageable. A little bacon, a little bacon drippings, a handful of chopped onion, chopped garlic, a can of whole kernal corn (drained), roughly chopped fresh tomatoes, chopped okra and some broth for it all to swim in. Cook on low for at least two hours. Salt. Hot sauce is optional. Don't forget the cornbread to sop up the juices. :)
As a side note, I went googling for a recipe and found one that called for Extra-Virgin Olive Oil in the place of beloved bacon drippings. That just seems wrong. Check. That *is* wrong. Heretical maybe. Stewed tomatoes and okra is not a dish that should be "fancied up" with EVOO. No hig-falutin' oil here. Go bacon or go home. :)
My honey is in Nebraska for a few days...and is having a hard time finding a hotel because the Olympic swim trials are happening there. How cool is that?
So now you know.
PS See that thing on the right side of my blog that shows where people come here from? In theory, it's a cool idea to know where your readers are from...in reality tho, it's driving me up the wall. It's sending my curiosity into overdrive. It may not stay for long.


2 comments:

Hollye said...

Where I grew up at in Texas, the Kroger floral department was HUGE! I'm talking, people ordered their wedding flowers there. I remember at homecoming time, the store would be a mad house because they did mums for all the high schools in the area. At the time I was in high school, there was really only one florist in town besides the Kroger florist.

Deanna said...

"Go bacon or go home!".... That is like a quote to cross stitch!!